Legal Advice

[BrianS]

Say your in-laws come up from another state with a uhaul truck, pack up most of your belongings, your wife, and 9 month old child and go back to their home state.

You come home from work and find out whats transpired.

Has any law been broken? Could/Should the police be called? Your wife went of her own free will (sorta - long story)

This is happening to someone near and dear to me.. and I need the facts.

[Homerun04]

Only recourse would be transporting the child(ren) across state lines.....your firend might be able to claim kidnapping, if the children were taken without his consent in an attempt to sepereate them from him....IMO

[Uncle Matt]

I ialso magine a larceny has occurred if they took some belongings that they had no right to take. I'm sure the courts will see taking some personal items across state lines as a means to deprive the rightful or legal owner.

Of course this is in addition to the taking of the child issue. Best bet is have your friend contact an attorney before he does something he shouldn't. Plus he needs an attorney to protect his rights.

[Mike P]

Your neighbor has parental rights at stake here---he needs to talk to a good family law/matrimonial attorney NOW. He needs to beat her to the punch and file proceedings before she does wherever she went. You're also probably going to be dealing with a sticky question of which state's laws with repsect to grounds for divorce, division of property, custody and support and a host of other things. That is why I stressed a GOOD attorney.

I don't know Mass law, but it is entirely possible his in-laws and his wife committed a crime here, removing a child from the state where it and the father were domiciled without any judicial determination of custody rights, and without notice to the father so he could take action to have a judge issue an emergency order preventing the child's removal, pending determination of custody. A spouse cannot deprive a husband of his parental rights, and an opportunity to assert them in a court, by just packing up and moving out of the blue. Certainly, if they took his belongings, they committed a larceny. Yes, in addition to an attorney, he should contact the police.

[Raven]

the conspiracy issue.....as it sounds like three people conspired to do the deed in a very stealthy fashion within a short window of opportunity during his work day.... just a thought...but it appears different than just the wife packing up the truck and takin off....legally different i mean...to me.

[BrianS]

oh its a conspiracy for sure.

i could go down the whole list of things i know about these people and it would make your head spin... its literally that scary how selfish and manipulative the wife is... Not too many people get pregnant in times of war to avoid being shipped to Iraq... Her naval duty ended this week. My cousin didnt want to move to arkansas.. She wanted to go home.. She bought a house behind his back and left.

I called her cellphone last night. I talked to her very objectively and calmly for like 45 mins. If she was alone, I am sure she would of at least stopped. But, she has her parents with her who are utterly southern rednecks who also fancy themselves witches. They think they have *the power* or something.

My cousin got ahold of an attorney and called the police... Its all a waiting game now...